Tavon Davis, 24, and Bruce Byrd, 26, were indicted on several charges, including murder for hire, murder, conspiracy to commit bank fraud and weapons violations.

Isaiah Callaway, 19, was killed in Baltimore on April 11, a few days after his attorney called Davis and let him know that officials wanted to interview Callaway about a fraud scheme Davis was involved in, according to the indictment.

"When we follow the rules and disclose to private lawyers that someone may be cooperating with law enforcement, we rely on them as officers of the court to keep the information from getting into the wrong hands," said U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein. "This is the second recent case in which an inappropriate disclosure by a private attorney allegedly led to the murder of a federal witness."

The indictment said that from May 2009 to November, Davis, Byrd, Callaway and a few others stole more than $513,000 in money orders and checks from rent deposit boxes at apartment complexes and deposited the money into fraudulent business accounts. The men then withdrew the money from ATMs before the banks discovered the fraud.

Federal officials said Callaway recruited and paid people to open the fraudulent accounts, as well as gave them documentation to show the banks.

On Dec. 29, 2010, Callaway was caught in the act and charged with counterfeiting and theft by Baltimore County police, and he confessed to his role in the larger scheme, officials said.

The indictment said Davis referred Callaway to a lawyer to fight the charges, and the lawyer eventually told Davis that Callaway was to be interviewed about the bank fraud scheme to identify those who were participating in it.

The indictment said Davis and Byrd planned Callaway's slaying for months. Davis called Callaway to the 1700 block of Crystal Avenue for a meeting, where Byrd shot him with a gun in the driver's seat of a parked car.

The indictment said Davis paid Byrd $2,000 for the killing.

Both men are currently in custody and could get life in prison if convicted.

In an unrelated case, Antonio Hall was sentenced to life in prison in November for a similar crime. Hall was convicted of murdering Kareem Guest after he had learned from an attorney that Guest was cooperating with the FBI regarding a case that would have implicated him in the crime.

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